Have you ever gone back searching the Internet for something you read and just couldn’t find it? I think we all have – it’s quite frustrating. The problem comes when we don’t take the time to save what we want to go back and look at. Although, that’s not the only problem – it also can be if you just don’t know whatto use.

You might think: “I am too lazy to save stuff when I’m just clicking around the Internet“. And to that I say, alright. Just remember that next time you’re trying to find something. Nonetheless, there are some excellent tools that are free as well and work practically flawlessly.

In addition to being able to read one article, you can also put together what are called Readlists, which are a series of links that you collect from around the web and add them all to one list for easy access. Then you can export that list to various places, including your Kindle, iPhone/iPad, and even download it to your computer as an eBook.

In addition to exporting them for personal use, they can also be shared to Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else with a custom link.

After you log in, you see that Clipboard is a very visual-based service, which for some users is a plus and for others is a negative – it just depends on your tastes.

The clipping tool is available in a Firefox or Chrome extension, and a bookmarklet. The clipping tool is actually quite functional. In the image below, the bookmarklet is being used.

Once you’ve clipped the desired content using one of the various forms, a window like the one below is displayed and you can choose what board to add it to, publish it publicly to Clipboard, and share it to Facebook and Twitter, while even adding hashtags and mentions.

Once you create an account and log in, you’ll need to get the bookmarklet to start using Instapaper. After you’ve added a few articles to Instapaper, check out the Unreadpage to view all your articles. You’ll notice that in the same row that Unread is in, there’s also a Browse, Liked, and Archive. The Browse tab lets you view popular stories as well as articles from friends that you follow on Instapaper.

The Unread page also has a sidebar that features folders to organize your saved articles, an Archive All option, a Download option to print the page and save as a Kindle or ePub file, and an Export CSV option, which generates a file containing a list of your saved articles.

Instapaper also has quite a few extras, including a previously mentioned bookmarklet. There is a universal app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, which costs $3.99. Instapaper also has an Android app and apps specifically for the Kindle Fire and Nook, all of which cost $2.99 each. Instapaper gives you your own dedicated Instapaper email address to send links and long messages to for reading later.

You can also send items directly from Google reader with the Instapaper bookmarklet, which even works on the mobile Google Reader site.

Then you can sort by types content which you’ve saved in the Queue, as well as mark them as a favorite and archive them.

In addition to the browser tools, there are a lot of other applications compatible with Pocket which you can view on the apps page. The Pocket mobile app is available on iOS and Android (including the Kindle Fire) and the mobile bookmark works on other popular mobile platforms such as Blackberry, Windows Phone and WebOS.

Unfortunately, there is no dedicated tool to send content to an eBook reader as of yet. You can connect Pocket to Calibre, though to fill this void. Some users might also want a browser extension with a bit more functionality. If you’re one who does, check out the Pickpocket extension, which is available for Safari and Chrome. It isn’t officially by Pocket, but it does offer many more options.

If bookmarking is all you want to do, they have a the “Simple Bookmarklet” that does nothing, but bookmark the page. If you want a tool that is a little more robust, look no further than the Web Highlighter for Chrome and the iPad. The bookmarklet version of this is known as the Diigolet and the Internet Explorer and Firefox versions of this is simply the Diigo Toolbar. These can all be found on the Diigo Tools page under Browser Add-ons.

Highlights

BlinkList is a simple bookmarking tool that allows you to save links in an organize fashion without taking up extra space in your bookmarks bar. You can create lists for various categories that your saved links fit into. BlinkList functions via a simple bookmarklet.

Zootool can be used in any browser by using the bookmarklets, however Safari, Chrome and Firefox all have dedicated bookmarklets and extensions.

Highlights

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

Browser extensions and bookmarklets.

Versatile for any browser.

Easy to learn and fun to use.

Visual bookmarking.

Conclusion

These are certainly not the only tools to help you save what you want to read for later, but they are some of the best. Of course, the Internet is full of great new innovations so if there’s a service that you use and love, definitely share it in the comments for your fellow readers.

I use memosnag (memosnag.com). It's a new tool. It didn't exist when this article was written.
memosang lets me save individual images and text selection from any website as well as YouTube videos and also lets me bookmark webpages with a screenshot, all with a single click. It works with a browser plugin for Chrome and Firefox. Everything is saved in your account and can be accessed across devices. You can also organize your saves in collections and share collections with others, which is great when you are working on something as a group.

I subscribed to Pocket, but I don't find myself using it much. I save articles to read later with Scrapbook addons (especially because DOM Eraser feature is great for PDF printing) and create ebooks for manuals/related series of articles I'd like to refer later with Readlist. When I want just a single article to save in my hard drive, I use PrimoPDF to print the article as PDF.

I've tried a few and the ones that sit with me the best are Evernote and Pocket. But....I also have thousands of bookmarks turned into folders so they can nestle on my Bookmarks Bar nicely.

I like what Harley said and agree- there is not enough hours in a day to read everything you want to AND you always find new stuff to add!

I save so many things to read later, and the same goes for my Feedly Feed Reader, that it has become to be a burden to look through them as some things I saved simply sounded good at the time and no longer interest me - and I can only take so much of 'house-clearing'!!

Great article Aaron - i would love to see a feature by feature comparison of all of these . . . plus you could arguably include Microsoft OneNote, Skydrive and Google Drive as well - all of them have either similar functionality or funjctionality which can be included with available extensions or scripts. Personally, I use Safari with its built in Reading List Feature and a few other plug ins for simple article setting and I really like using OneNote for more advanced readings that contain clips and content organized from multiple sites.

Great apps. I spend a lot of time figuring out where did I read an article. I often use my cell to read news, my laptop and 2 computers (one in each of my jobs) so browsing the web and keeping the stuff I like to read later without remembering everything is a must.

I use Evernote and Google Bookmarks.
What I would like to be able to do is to "mark" Facebook Entries to view or read later. Someone has posted a photo album or a video or linked to a news story. Is there a way to mark it in FB and come straight back to it later?

Yes, but you do have to be fairly quick about it. When you get a “notification” about your friend's post, you get a URL straight to that post. You can then open the URL (from Notifications) and add to Evernote or Google Bookmarks.

I haven't tried all of these, but have been using Pocket for a while and it's very easy to use, on a pc and mobile. I use Evernote generally but never for this kind of thing - find it a bit to cumbersome with organizing it. Pocket just puts it in one place and it's easy to see/navigate. Simple.

Aaron is a Vet Assistant graduate, with his primary interests in wildlife and technology. He enjoys exploring the outdoors and photography. When he's not writing or indulging in technological findings throughout the interwebs, he can be found bombing down the mountainside on his bike. Read more about Aaron on his…